Holiday Fun
by Warmal
Summary: Over the years, Stitch had grown accustomed to many of Earth's strange ways. However, the oddest things are the celebrations. And of course, there's always a first for everything. Enjoy Stitch's first encounter with some of the holidays.
1. Monsters

A cool breeze flowed through the house. Autumn had hit the island harder this year than normal. While not getting cold by normal standards, it was a noticeable difference from the usual tropical heat. When Lilo woke up that morning, she noticed Stitch was missing. She grew increasingly worried as the day went on. He was still rather new to the island, and they didn't like him being out on his own. They weren't worried he would get hurt, they were worried that someone else would.

Jumba had brought to their attention that Stitch might revert back to his destructive programming at any time. It wasn't that long ago that he had been created, anything could be possible. Lilo however stood by the fact that Stitch was good. His badness level was at an all-time low, and was continuing to drop each day.

She put down her coloring book and looked out the living room window. A few birds flew by suddenly, startling her a bit. She let out a sigh, turning her record player up. The soft sounds of Elvis' voice filled the air, calming her worries a bit. Even if she fully believed in Stitch, she couldn't help but wonder where he had gone.

Lilo had begged Nani to let her go out to look for him, but she was told it would be best to wait for him at home. Nani had to go to work, so Jumba went out looking for him while Pleakley stayed home to watch over Lilo. Her sister assured her that it was more likely that he had just stepped out for a moment to see something and would soon return.

Lilo's face lit up when she finally heard the door burst open.

"Lilo?!" Stitch shouted as he frantically ran into the house. He instantly found her sitting by the couch and rushed to her side.

"Where did you go, Stitch?" Lilo asked, but it seemed like he hadn't heard her question. She only saw fear in his eyes as he took her hand and started pulling her to their room.

"Weega have to hide." He said. "Meega keep yuuga safe."

"Hide? What are we hiding from?"

"Kaphong!" Stitch burst out, slamming the entrance to their room, making sure it was locked.

"Kap…what?"

Lilo hadn't yet grasped Stitch's language. She had been trying her best, learning what she could from association. There were a few words she had started to understand, ones he used a lot. She knew he could speak English but preferred his own language, and so decided it would be better for her to learn his instead.

"Meega saw monsters out there." Stitch had begun to block the stairway to their room. Their dressers and desks did a fine job of making sure no one would be able to get up.

"Monsters?" Lilo became a little excited. She had always wanted to be a part of a horror movie. This was real life though, not one of the old cheesy films she and her dad used to watch together. She started to help barricade themselves off in whatever way they could.

After Stitch felt they were safely secured, he took a quick look out the window. There was no way he was going to let a monster get at Lilo while he was on the watch.

"Looks clear." He said, hoping down from the window and joining Lilo under their bunk bed. "Meega naga see any monsters around here."

"What's going on?" Lilo asked, the fear starting to take hold of her. "Where did you go? What kind of monsters are out there?"

Stitch hesitated for a moment. He didn't want Lilo to be scared, but he knew she was a strong girl, despite her size. They were up almost every day watching scary movies. He was sure that if anyone could handle what he had witnessed, it would be her.

"Meega woke up and yuuga were still asleep." He began, recounting his actions from the early morning. "Meega waited but yuuga naga wake up. Then meega smelled something strange coming from outside. It smelled like vegetables, but naga one meega ever smelled before."

Lilo wasn't sure what this had to do with monsters, but she hung off every word. She was at least happy to know he wasn't off doing anything bad.

"When meega got to town, everything looked strange. Like one of the movies weega would watch. Meega found the odd smell. There was these big round orange things everywhere. They were butifa big." He put his arms out as wide as he could. "Meega was about to eat hakkiah when meega saw the monsters. Meega ran back home as fast as meega could. Isa naga safe out there."

As Stitch was finishing his story, a sudden realization came over Lilo. "Oh no! Nani and Jumba are out there right now. What if the monsters get them? We have to save them, before it's too late."

Stitch hesitated at first. His job was to make sure that Lilo was safe. After letting her get captured by Gantu, he made it his sole duty to protect her and not let anything bad happen to her again. However, to leave Nani and Jumba out there would mean utter doom.

"'Ohana means family." He repeated to himself.

"Nobody gets left behind."

The two started working on unblocking the door. They were going to need to do a full rescue operation to rescue their family members. Hope filled their hearts that it wasn't already too late.

Un-piling the stuff from their room, Lilo picked up her 'strange desert animal' calendar. Doing what little she could to help once again. As she placed it down, something caught her eye. The picture of the month was a jerboa standing on top of a jack-o-lantern. Seeing the picture got her thinking.

"Hey, Stitch?" She asked, interrupting him as he lifted their full bookcase. "What did these big orange things look like?"

"Um…" He began, scratching his head as he thought about it. "Like a beach ball with a green stick on top."

"Kind of like this?" Lilo pointed to the picture on her calendar.

"Ih. Ih. Exactly like that."

Lilo looked back to the calendar as Stitch continued dismantling their barrier. Going over the days, she finally found the one she was looking for. October thirty-first had a huge circle around it in red pen. She started to laugh, her joyous realization quickly reaching Stitch's ears.

"Gaba funny?" Stitch asked, setting down the table as carefully as he could.

"There's no monsters out there, Stitch." Lilo giggled. "Tomorrow's Halloween! With everything that's happened I almost forgot."

Stitch titled his head in confusion. "Halloween?"

"You haven't heard of…? Okay. We need to educate you." Lilo went to the bookcase Stitch had just recently put back, and quickly found the book she was looking for. She motioned for Stitch to sit next to her as she began leafing through the pages. "Halloween is the best holiday of the year, except for Elvis' birthday. Long live the king."

"Long live the king." Stitch repeated.

"Halloween is the time of year where people celebrate monsters, the dead, and all things spooky and scary. They dress up like vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, anything and everything!" She pointed to a group of trick-or-treaters on one of the pages. "Kids get to go door to door and ask for candy. You really need to plan ahead to get all the good stuff. Or else you get stuck with those yucky ones. Or even worse, vegetables."

"Naga." Stitch gasped.

"Yes. There's also a lot of fun traditions too. My favorite is carving pumpkins. Those things you saw in town. You carve them and leave them on your door step to ward off evil spirits."

Stitch took the book from Lilo and started looking through all the pictures. Each page showed people having tons of fun. He looked up at the room around him, still in a rather messy state.

"Meega do bad." He said as his ears dropped.

"You didn't do bad." Lilo told him. "You were just looking out for me. Thank you." She gave him a kiss on the nose, bringing his spirits up. "Did you want to dress up too?"

Stitch nodded enthusiastically. "Ih."

It didn't take long for Lilo to find clothes for their costumes. She never threw out anything that she thought was creepy and cool. She lost most of her costumes when the house blew up, but there were still a few things. She always felt that simple was the best way to go anyway. A suit jacket, cape, necklace, robe, and a witch's hat was all she needed for their perfect costumes.

"There. You make an amazing Dracula." Lilo said, holding a mirror for Stitch to see him in his vampire costume.

Stitch smiled greatly, he had no idea there were such fun traditions. "Yuga make a great witch."

"You think?" Lilo asked as she twirled. "Maybe I could cast a spell on Myrtle and turn her into a frog."

The two burst out laughing at the thought of Lilo casting a spell on Myrtle. They would certainly enjoy the look on her face as she turned into a warty old toad. Sadly, they wouldn't get to see it, but it was fun to imagine.

"Weega go trick-or-treating now?" Stitch asked, wanting to go have fun like the kids in Lilo's book.

"No. Not yet." Lilo said. "You have to wait until the last night of the month. That's when we get the candy. We can do something else though."

Lilo took Stitch back into town. This time around, he wasn't scared or worried about seeing people dressed up like monsters. Everywhere they looked, Halloween decorations littered the shops and streets. Skeletons, cobwebs, giant fake spiders, and tombstones had taken over their small town. Truly, Lilo's favorite part of the holiday was that she could be herself without anyone calling her weird. At this time of year it was normal to dress up and like the scary and creepy things. It made her feel like she belonged.

Stitch was lost in wonder at the transformation their home had taken. Now that he took a closer look, it was clear everyone was just wearing costumes. He felt a little silly for thinking that they were really monsters. That feeling was completely washed away by the smell of the pumpkins returning to him.

"Aloha, Mrs. Hasegawa." Lilo said, dodging the old lady's water hose as she turned around.

Squinting through her spectacles, the woman managed to make out Lilo's face. "Aloha, Lilo. A little early for trick-or-treating isn't it."

"Everyone's already dressed up though."

"They are?" She asked shocked. "I haven't noticed."

"Do you have any pumpkins left? It's Stitch's first Halloween so I want him to get the full experience."

"Pumpkins?" Mrs. Hasegawa thought for a moment. "Ah yes. Here you go." She handed Lilo a little pumpkin from her vegetable stand. "Enjoy!"

"Um…" Lilo looked at the tiny pumpkin. "Thanks Mrs. Hasegawa. But I was hoping for something a little larger."

"Larger?"

"Yeah. For, you know, carving and stuff."

"Why didn't you say so?" She gave a toothy grin, pointing to behind her shop. "All the big ones are in the back. Go help yourself to whichever you like."

Lilo and Stitch ran around back as fast as they could. Once they got there, their hearts leapt. It was like a small field of orange. Pumpkins everywhere, even stacked on top of each other. All it needed was to rain candy and they'd be in Halloween heaven.

After a couple hours of playing in the small pumpkin patch, Lilo let Stitch pick out a pumpkin for them to take. Along the way home, they ran into Jumba who had been looking for Stitch the entire day. He was out of breath, and it looked like he was hiding in the trees.

"Little girl! Six-two-six!" Jumba whispered from his hiding spot.

"Jumba?" Stitch asked, titling his head.

"What are you doing behind a tree?" Lilo finished for her friend.

"My Earth disguise is not working." He explained. "People keep running up and are telling me I have an amazing costume. Somehow I have been found out. We need to hurry before I am being taken away and experimented on like in your movies." Jumba's worries were quickly made light of by the two's laughter. "What is so funny?"

Along the way home, Lilo explained to him the concept of Halloween. As well that the people weren't talking about his disguise, but that he looked like a real alien. Jumba wasn't as interested in the holiday as Stitch was. He did find the concept of trick-or-treating fun though.

"So it is allowed to go around tricking people?" Jumba chuckled as ideas filled his mind. "This might be best holiday yet."

It was a long wait until nightfall. It felt even longer with the anticipation for the next day. That would be when the real fun began. Before that though, Lilo had a plan for the pumpkin they had picked out that afternoon. What she didn't know was that Stitch had his own plan. She had just finished carving the small pumpkin as an example for the larger one before meeting Stitch outside.

"Where's all the carving stuff?" Lilo asked, holding her small jack-o-lantern. Nani had told them to do the big one outside so they wouldn't make too big of a mess indoors, it was Stitch's job to bring the tools after Lilo cleaned up everything else inside.

"Meega had an idea."

With that, Stitch pulled out one of Jumba's plasma guns. Lilo looked confused until Stitch turned and shot at the pumpkin. In a matter of moments it was transformed into a green glowing jack-o-lantern unlike one Lilo had ever seen before.

Finished with his work, Stitch covered his face with his cape and raised his eyebrows in the best impression of Dracula that he could manage. "Gaba yuuga think?"

"It's the best jack-o-lantern I've ever seen!" Lilo placed the tiny jack-o-lantern on top of Stitch's, liking the idea of a one giving the other a piggy back ride. "Everyone is going to be completely jealous. If they come that is…" She saw Stitch tilt his head, curious by her words. "It's nothing. This is going to be the best Halloween of all time!"

"Stitch do good?"

"Stitch did great."

She gave him a kiss on the nose. "Happy Halloween, Stitch."

"Happy Halloween, Lilo."

Lilo started running back to the house. "Come on! We need to plan out our route tomorrow. We don't want to be stuck with all the bad candy."

Stitch took one last long look at his pumpkin. He was still new to this world, and he didn't understand everything it had to hold just yet. But he was learning, and having a lot of fun with Lilo along the way.


	2. Thankful for You

Light slowly filled through the blocked window. It was already past midday already, but Lilo and Stitch were still asleep. The little blue experiment sprawled across Lilo's top bunk of the bed, slightly nudging her in the process.

"Uhn." Lilo winced a moaned at the disturbance to her sleep. "Move over Stitch, you're taking up all the room."

Stitch rolled over best he could in his sleeping state. "So…ka…" He replied with a deep breath.

The two had stayed up late once again reading scary stories and eating junk food. Since Lilo started up school at the end of summer, their weekend evenings were spent staying up late and having fun to make up for all the time they ended up losing. Stitch would sometimes come to school with her, but normally pets weren't allowed. As well, ever since Halloween came along, Stitch gained a completely new fascination for everything scary. He had already enjoyed monsters because of Lilo, but seeing people dressed up as them in real life gave him a whole new appreciation of them.

He continued to take deep breaths, trying his best to fall back asleep. However, something quickly caught his attention. With a quick inhale, Stitch's nose twitched at the sweet aroma of food wafting from downstairs. The smell of breakfast had long since passed, and this was something he had never smelled before. Unable to ignore it, he slowly pulled himself from bed, dropping to the floor with a clang.

"Stitch?" Lilo looked over the edge of the bed, still half asleep. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get her vision to go straight again. "Are you okay?"

"Ih." Stitch said, shaking his head. "Meega oketaka."

"That's good." Lilo climbed down safely to join him. Even if she was still tired, there was no way she could get back to sleep after Stitch fell like that. "Why did you fall?"

"Meega smell something good." He stated simply, getting back up on his feet.

"You do? I don't smell anything. Are you sure you're not imagining things."

Stitch was sure that he smelled something though, and nearly dragged Lilo to the kitchen.

"Okay. Now I smell something." She admitted once they got to the bottom of the stairs. "And it does smell really good!"

They ran the rest of the way together, almost crashing into Nani again.

"Hey!" Nani said pointing a baster at the two. "What did I say about running in the house?"

"Only do it if there's an emergency." Lilo and Stitch recited at the same time.

"And is there an emergency?"

"No." They both once again said at once.

"Then no more running. Especially not in the kitchen while I'm cooking."

Lilo and Stitch looked around the kitchen. Half prepared food laid everywhere. Some failed concoctions as well as some burnt food, most of it was unrecognizable. The family still had trouble with dinners now and then. It was hard to get into the swing of things with so many more mouths to feed all of a sudden. Especially when one of them was able to eat entire plates whole. It was because of that that Nani didn't remind Lilo that Thanksgiving was coming up, and why she made sure that Stitch had no idea. If he had known about all the food she had hidden in the house, they wouldn't be having supper that night. It soon dawned on Lilo what day it was, and was about to explain it to Stitch when they were interrupted.

"I am ready to help with the holiday!" Pleakley suddenly announced as he entered the room. Everyone turned to look at him and burst out laughing. "What? Am I not wearing this right?"

Pleakley looked down at his black and white suite, with his buckled shoes and readjusted his buckled hat. He shifted around, trying his best to wear things properly.

"No, Pleakley." Lilo said, trying her best to stop laughing. "You're not wearing it wrong. It's just, why are you wearing it?"

"Well, after that fascinating Halloween, I started looking up other Earth traditions and events." Pleakley's eye lit up like a star. The thought of Earth customs immediately raised his excitement to the max. "I came across this interesting one called 'Thanksgiving.'" He started to help out Nani like he had promised, not seeing her roll her eyes. "It stems back many generations. Where one group of people gives another a large stuffed bird. As well as a bountiful amount of food that spills out of a large horn. And while doing so, you wear one of these silly, yet very comfy suits. I was about to read about the ones wearing the leather clothing and beautiful headdresses, but I realized I was supposed to be helping."

"Well… you almost got it at least." Lilo giggled.

Stitch eyed up Pleakley's outfit and looked to Lilo. "Do meega have to wear that too?"

"No, Stitch. You don't. Actually, no one wears those. I don't actually think anyone ever did."

"What?!" Pleakley exclaimed, dropping a plate. "But everyone dressed up during the last holiday! I didn't even get the chance."

"Sorry, Pleakley. We dressed up because that's the point of Halloween. It isn't for Thanksgiving though."

"Pleakley!" Nani yelled. "Would you watch what you're doing? We're low enough on plates as it is."

Lilo and Stitch sat at the table, enjoying the aroma of the cooking turkey. It completely filled the house, along with the smell of the vegetables that Nani had cooking. Stitch was absolutely fascinated by all the effort put into a single meal. And both he and Lilo got a good laugh at Pleakley trying to help in the kitchen. To say the least, cooking wasn't his forte.

"What is going on in here?" Jumba asked as he bounded into the kitchen. "I am sitting in room trying to come up with my next great invention when I am smelling most delicious smell. And now I see one eyed noodle is cooking?"

"It's Thanksgiving." Lilo said cheerfully. "It's a holiday."

"Another holiday?" Jumba asked surprised. "Didn't you just have that hallowy one a short while ago?"

"Yeah. But this one's different. This ones to remind us what we are thankful for and to spend time with your family. Your 'ohana."

"Silly Earthlings need special day just to remember to be thankful? Bah. Do you need a celebration for everything?"

"It's not silly!" Lilo pouted. "It's really fun. Right, Stitch?"

"Huh?" Stitch's eyes had drifted over to the oven. The smell of the cooking turkey was almost intoxicating. He had long since stopped paying attention. "Ih. Butifa fun."

"See?" Lilo sat up proud, as if she had just proven her point with Stitch's input. "Besides. Didn't you have any holidays or celebrations back home?"

Jumba sat down at the table, trying to think of any when he was rudely interrupted.

"We do!" Pleakley said, almost dropping a pot of potatoes out of excitement. "My favorite was Grosketery. Every thirteen Earth months we would choose the best warrior, and they would battle the new wave of groskets. It was so much fun to watch."

"I don't know what a… gorket is, but that sounds really dangerous."

"Oh it was! Many people died." Pleakley said, somehow sounding even more excited. "But it is such an honor to be chosen. And if we didn't, the grosket population would get to large and we would be wiped out."

"Please don't talk about people dying in front of Lilo, Pleakley." Nani added, snatching the pot away from him.

"Hehe… Sorry."

"Jumba naga have any?" Stitch asked with great curiosity. His brain was faster than a super computer, and he knew a great many things. Yet he still needed to learn things like traditions, manners, celebrations, and friendship. Jumba never programmed knowledge of any of them into him.

"Me?" Jumba almost burst out laughing at the thought. "No. None. Kweltikwan is very simple planet. We saw no need for things like this. Although… I suppose day ex-wife left would be worth celebrating." Jumba started to giggle at the thought.

"Well now you get to celebrate all the holidays with us! We're one big happy family now." Lilo rested her arms and head on the table with a big smile on her face. "I'm so excited I can't wait. We haven't had a big supper like this since…" She trailed off as the smile began to fade from her face.

The atmosphere in the kitchen quickly changed and everyone became tensed. As much as Lilo and Nani were okay with talking about their parents passing, it still hurt them deeply. Afterwards, they didn't do a whole lot of celebrating. David tried to get them back into the spirit, and they would do a little bit. However it was never the same. This was the first big family supper they were going to have in what felt like forever. Jumba soon excused himself from the table, eager to get to the work he really did have to start. After a while, Pleakley was also dismissed. Nani had had enough close calls of him almost ruining dinner, and she was not going to stand to have their first big family meal become a disaster. Grumbling, Pleakley went back to his room to change, disappointed about all the work he had put into his outfit.

Lilo and Stitch started playing to pass the time. They knew they were going to stay up late after sleeping in for so long. It was the weekend, so Lilo didn't really care. She just wanted to spend as much time with Stitch as she could. Which Stitch was more than happy to oblige. The house was so much more boring without Lilo around. Mostly he just sat and waited for her to return from school. The weekend was always what he looked forward to most.

In the midst of their games, they heard a knock at the door.

"Lilo, sweetie?!" Nani called out. "Can you get it? My hands are a little full right now."

"Okay." Lilo called back with a sigh. She put down her crayon and got the door, hearing another knock just as she reached it. "Hello-Cobra!"

In the doorway a tall man stood, dressed in a completely black suit.

"Hey, Lilo." Cobra said, getting down on one knee. "How've you been?"

"Good!" Lilo instantly jumped up, wrapping as much of her arms around his neck as she could. "What are you doing here?"

"It's Thanksgiving isn't it? Aren't I allowed to be with my 'ohana?" Stitch came over the moment he realized who it was. He actually had a lot to owe to the social worker. He had to pull a lot of strings to let Nani and Lilo stay together. "Hey there, Stitch. Nice to see you again." He petted Stitch on the head before finally entering.

Nani managed to get to the door after scrambling to get all the food settled for her to get away. "Oh Cobra. It's nice to see you again."

"Everything still going good?" Cobra asked as he gave her a small hug.

"Peachy. I had a feeling you might show up." Nani's face went white as she heard pot lids starting to rattle. "One second." With that, she rushed off.

Tilting her head to see into the kitchen, Lilo saw a bit of smoke coming out of one of the pots. Thinking it best to keep Cobra out of there, Lilo pulled him over to her and Stitch's drawings.

"So why yuuga naga with yuuga's 'ohana?" Stitch asked as Cobra looked at Lilo's picture.

"This is really nice." Cobra said to Lilo before answering Stitch. "I am. You guys are my family."

"Meega mean yuuga's real family. Where are they?"

"That's classified information." Cobra said deadpanned before laughing it off. "I'll still see them. Don't worry. Just can't today is all. So I thought I'd stop in. It's not a problem I'm here is it, Nani?" He called out.

"Not at all!" She replied. "Actually. Could you come help out? Once David gets here we're going to eat, and I lost my only helper."

"You kicked me out!" Pleakley said as he walked by, still pouting.

"Sure thing, Nani." Cobra answered.

The two went back to their coloring and games. Supper wouldn't be too much longer, and they were both starving. The smell from the kitchen didn't help them any, and eventually Stitch's stomach began to rumble loud. Lilo laughed at the sound until her stomach also began to growl. She stopped and blushed a little as Stitch found it his turn to laugh.

Eventually, David finally arrived, finding the house smelling delicious.

"Aloha everyone!" He called out as he came into the house.

"Hey, David." Nani said, giving him a hug. "Thanks for coming."

"Wouldn't miss it." He said, returning her hug. "Everything went okay?"

"Yeah… It was hard. But I think it was good. It was a nice suggestion."

"Hey. If you're looking for words of wisdom, I'm available anytime."

Lilo and Stitch bounded over, carrying their drawings. "David! David! Look what we drew."

David took the papers from them and smiled. "Hey, these are awesome. You two are regular artists."

He took the two pictures of their whole family eating supper together and taped them to the fridge. There wasn't a whole lot of room left on the door, but they would make as much as they needed. Lilo and Stitch beamed proudly as they looked at all their pictures.

"Okay everyone!" Nani yelled out, trying to get Jumba and Pleakley's attention. "It's time to sit down and eat!"

Dinner looked absolutely amazing and the table was set beautifully. Everyone was overly eager to eat the delicious smelling turkey, as well as the rest of the food. However, Lilo had something else in mind.

Just as Jumba was about to dish some of the vegetables onto his plate, Lilo called out for everyone to wait.

"This is our first big holiday together as a family! We need to take a picture."

Everyone sighed, stomachs begging for them to eat. Nani just smiled at her with kind eyes. "Okay, sweetie. Go get your camera. Stitch, you can grab the turkey."

Stitch was more than eager to help, and Lilo quickly set up her camera. No one wanted to wait around for the picture to be taken, so Lilo just set it on a timer. Everyone looked in awe as Stitch set the turkey on the table, just as the camera took the photo. The flash caught Pleakley's attention, making him look away just as Stitch dropped the plate on the table in surprise. Everyone gasped, but thankfully it landed safely on the table.

"Okay." Nani said with a deep breath. Her heart stopped from seeing all her hard work almost go to waste. "Stitch, would you carve the turkey before anything bad happens?"

"Ih. Ih." He laughed, pulling out the new chainsaw.

"No!" Nani yelled. "Cobra, how about you do it? With a knife please."

"Of course."

A disappointed Stitch sat down at the table, sad he didn't get to use the fancy new chainsaw. Lilo patted him on the head, telling him he could do it next time.

The rest of Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch. The family took turns saying what they were thankful for, even Jumba. He still thought that it was a silly tradition, but he joined in none the less. He would never admit it, but he had a lot of fun. Pleakley kept going on and on about all the things he learned about Thanksgiving. Most of which was untrue, but no one wanted to take away his fun by telling him the truth.

Mostly, Lilo and Stitch sat in silence, enjoying the time with their family. It was nice to have a reminder of all the good things in life. Lilo was able to smile genuinely at all the fun they had. It was still hard not to have her parents, but her new 'ohana made everything much better.

That night, Lilo and Stitch laid awake in the bunk bed yet again. Having slept in so late, they were still wide awake. Not to mention the food that was still processing in their stomachs. They had ate so much it almost felt like they were going to explode.

"Hey, Stitch?" Lilo said from the top bunk. "Are you awake?"

"Ih." Stitch called back. "Naga sleep."

"Me neither. Wanna come up here?" Stitch didn't answer, but Lilo could hear the creak of the bed as Stitch climbed up to her. "Thanks." She said as she felt Stitch cuddle into her. Her mind swirled with thoughts of the day. Of her family and how much she loved them. Of the fun she had with Stitch. But most of all, of how much she wished her parents could be there with her. So they too could enjoy all the new friends they had made. Just to know that they are all okay. It didn't occur to her until she felt Stitch hold onto her tightly, that she had started crying.

For so long she had kept these feelings inside. She and Nani didn't talk about mom and dad very often. At most, they pretended nothing had happened. In silence, they shared a wish that it was all a bad dream.

"Lilo naga cry." Stitch said, wiping her tears away. "Lilo will be able to sleep."

She was able to smile at his silliness. Lilo knew Stitch was smarter than that, that he knew what was upsetting her. She still cried herself to sleep every now and then, and Stitch was always there for her. He just wouldn't talk about it so that she wouldn't get more upset. Always, he did his best to make her feel better instead. He wasn't a replacement, all he ever could be was her best friend, and he would always be there for her.

"Stitch? I know what I said downstairs at supper. But I'm really most thankful to have you. You're the best thing to ever happen to me. Thank you."

"Meega thankful to have yuuga too, Lilo. Yuuga meega's best achi-baba."


	3. To Nani

"Stitch!"

Stitch awoke with a start at the sound of his name being called. Still in a daze, he looked around, awaiting some sort of danger to emerge. Instead, Lilo ran up the stairs calling his name again.

"Stitch!" Lilo called, rushing to the bedside. "Are you up?"

"Meega am now…" Stitch yawned.

"Sorry." Lilo apologized, but she was too excited to keep still. "Come on. We have to get going."

Stitch was fully awake once he felt his arm being pulled. Rather than question it, he decided to just let himself get dragged along.

At the bottom of the staircase, Lilo looked up and down the hall before starting to tip-toe with Stitch close behind.

"Where weega going, Lilo?" Stitch asked.

"Shhhhh." Lilo interrupted. "Be quiet. We need to sneak out. Nani can't know we're leaving."

"Oh okay." Stitch was still confused, but he went along with it.

He noticed people starting to act strange as the days went on. Everyone was much happier, but also seemed to be more secretive. Especially Nani and Lilo. Jumba and Pleakley noticed too, but when he asked them about it they just claimed not to know. Once Lilo finally did start explaining, Stitch didn't fully understand what she was talking about.

Why the tree they put up in the living room was so important, and why there were a bunch of boxes beneath puzzled him. When he went to try to open them, everyone yelled at him to stop. Since then, he decided it was best not to question things. The last thing he wanted was for everyone to get mad at him.

Once they were outside, Lilo stopped sneaking and returned to a normal walk. While in town, Stitch saw many decorations he had never seen before. Large balls and lights hung from buildings, as well as large cut out snowflakes. He didn't know why, but he felt an odd chill run through his body at the sight of them. To make himself feel better, he instead looked at the large decorative balls. All the colours fascinated him greatly. Lilo had to stop him from taking some a few times.

"You can't take those, Stitch." She said, putting another one back on its hook. "They're for Christmas."

"Gaba Christmas?" He had heard the word many times, but still he didn't know what it meant.

"I've already told you haven't I?"

"Yuuga talk about presents, trees, dinner…" Stitch counted on his fingers as he went on. "Carols, candy canes, chocolate… naga Christmas."

Lilo giggled at his cuteness as the continued their way towards the mall. "Those are all a part of Christmas." By the look on her friend's face, it seemed that that wasn't enough of an explanation though. "Christmas is probably the biggest holiday of them all. It comes at the end of the year, and everyone basically counts down the days to it. It's a time for giving, and being with your family."

"'Ohana?"

"Yeah. You're 'ohana." Lilo rubbed his head. She was proud of how much Stitch had learned already. "You see. You're supposed to spend time with your family during the holidays and you give each other gifts. Like Thanksgiving and Halloween combined. And on the night before Christmas, Santa visits the homes of all the good boys and girls in the world and leaves gifts under the Christmas tree."

Stitch started getting confused again. "Snata?"

"Santa… Him!" Lilo pointed to the Television in the shop window they passed by.

Stitch looked in awe. A cartoon man wearing a big read coat and hat was handing toys to a bunch of little boys and girls. The smiles on their faces were bigger than Stitch had ever seen. Clearly, this Santa fellow held a lot of power over children. But then, Lilo's words started to worry him.

"Gaba about the bad children?" Stitch's mind jumped to all the things he had done in his short time on Earth. As good as he had tried to be, his badness level was still rather high.

"The naughty ones get nothing but coal." Lilo said menacingly. Stitch gasped and then she understood why he was asking. "Don't worry, Stitch. I'm sure Santa has made notes on all the good things you've done. After all, it's not your fault you were made to be destructive. You've done a lot of work to be good."

After a little more explanation, Stitch got more and more excited. He could see now why everyone was getting so happy and anxious. Everything about Christmas seemed like so much fun. Once they reached the mall, Lilo headed straight to the store she was looking for. Stitch didn't particularly care for the crowds. Being around big groups of people made him feel anxious, like his original programming was trying to take control again. While the city was normally okay to be in, the large amount of shoppers during this season was more than he liked. Quickly, he stayed on Lilo's heels the best he could.

"There!" Lilo said, grabbing the soon to be gift off the shelf. "This will be perfect for Nani. What do you think, Stitch?"

Lilo showed Stitch what she had picked out and he grew a big grin at the sight of it. "Oh. Oh! Isa butifa. Nani will love it."

"Alright. We'll get her this one."

Lilo trotted up to the cashier, eager to get her sister the gift. "Aloha, Mr. Kame. I'd like to buy this one please.

The store owner took the gift from Lilo and smiled at the girl's thoughtfulness. He had known the Pelekai family for years, and was glad to see Lilo getting into the holiday spirit again. "I'm sure Nani will love this, Lilo. Did you want it gift wrapped. It's only three dollars extra."

Lilo counted what she had brought. It was only enough for the present itself.

"Do you have any money on you, Stitch?" She asked hopefully.

Stitch outstretched his hidden arms, checking both his hands for anything. All he had on him was a button from a shirt, and a lollipop.

"Hey!" Lilo gave him a dirty look. "That's _my _lollipop. I was looking for that."

Stitch let out a guilty giggle and retracted his arms. "Naga money."

"I guess we'll just wrap it ourselves then."

Feeling a little bad for getting the girl's hopes up, Mr. Kame changed his mind. "Eh. Don't worry about it. I'll wrap it free of charge."

"Really!?"

"Yeah. Just wait a minute."

"Mahalo plenty, Mr. Kame." Lilo was absolutely ecstatic. She couldn't wait for Christmas to come now. It was sure to be the best one ever.

The energy on the island became a buzz as Christmas day approached. Stitch learned many things about the holiday from Lilo, and the more he learned the more he got excited. They watched movie after movie to get into the spirit. Stitch's favorite being 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.' Even Jumba got into the holiday mood this time around. Something about getting something without obligation to give, even if that wasn't the idea, made him giddy. Though, Jumba and Pleakley had become rather secretive as the day slowly approached.

Soon, Christmas day had finally arrived and it was harder to tell who was more excited.

"Wake up, Lilo." Stitch said, jumping on Lilo's bunk. "Wake up. Isa Christmas."

Stitch barely slept a wink all night, but he would be okay. He was far too excited to sleep. Lilo tried to stay up as late as she could. Every year, she would try to listen for Santa Clause and meet him. She knew the one at the shopping mall was only a stand in.

"Santa is too busy making toys to go around everywhere beforehand." Lilo told Stitch before he rushed off towards the mall Santa. "So he hires people to find out what kids want for him. That way, he can make any last minute changes."

Sadly, neither of them were able to catch Santa the previous night. Stitch was sure he was awake the whole time, but figured he must have dozed off at some point to have missed him. He felt bad too, because he wanted to ask Santa to leave a special gift for Lilo. He knew it was too late this year, and he didn't think his letter to the North Pole would have made it in time.

Either way, Christmas morning had finally arrived, and it only took Lilo a couple of moments to yawn and stretch before it finally hit her.

"It's Christmas?" Lilo asked, watching Stitch jump up and down. "It's Christmas! Come on!"

Stitch didn't have to be told twice. He made it down the stair case before Lilo did, crawling along the walls straight to the living room. Once Lilo caught up with him, they stood in awe at the Christmas tree. Santa had indeed come, there were far more presents under the tree than the night before, and all of their stockings were actually full.

"Well?" Nani asked, standing in the door way with a mug of coffee and a Santa hat. "It's time to open presents."

The look on the two of their faces was priceless. The amount of joy they shared as they rushed to the tree was immense. Wrapping paper went everywhere as Nani sat down to join them. As nice as it was to see them enjoy themselves. She wanted to at least have a bit of an organized time.

"Here, Stitch." Nani said, reaching over for one of his boxed gifts.

"Meega?" Stitch was excited. This was his first Christmas, and it was the first time he was ever getting real presents.

"Yeah. This one's for you."

Just as Nani was handing Stitch his gift, the door suddenly opened. They had almost forgotten about Jumba and Pleakley as they came in completely dressed up.

"Heeheehee, Merry Christmas!" Jumba said, dropping his large sack.

"That's 'hohoho,' Jumba." Pleakley said, rolling his eye. "Merry Christmas, everyone. Hey! You didn't wait for us?"

"Sorry." Lilo said bashfully. "We just got so excited…"

"It is being okay, little girl." Jumba said with a large grin. "I am having special surprise gift for you and six-two-six. Quickly, go get dressed."

"This better not be another quantum powered toaster." Nani said, watching Lilo rush off to her room.

"I am still saying that using radioactive energy would give better toast." Jumba said. "But no. This is much better."

When Lilo returned, her jaw dropped at what was awaiting her. "I get a car?!"

She rushed over and admired the small yellow vehicle. It was just her size, and from the looks of it, it would actually be drivable. She hoped Nani would be okay with it, because it would be the best present ever. Not even Myrtle would have a better toy to show off.

"It is being more than just a human Earth vehicle." Jumba motioned for Lilo to get in, to which she happily obliged. "Okay. Now hold on."

Jumba pressed a button on the dash board, and suddenly the car started to lift off the ground as the tires rotated underneath. Lilo felt a rush as the weightlessness take hold of her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down." Nani rushed over and pushed the button again, brining Lilo back to Earth. "No flying in the house." For a moment, Nani saw the joy escape Lilo's eyes making her feel bad. "If you want to. Take it outside."

"Okay!"

Lilo rushed outside, followed by Jumba Nani and Pleakley. Stitch was already outside with a similar red hover car. Lilo was too eager to join him, and beckoned Jumba to start it up again.

"You press this pedal to go forward." Jumba explained how the vehicle worked, though he was sure that Lilo barely heard a word from him. "This one stops it. And you just need to pull on the handles to go up."

With the instructions done, Lilo took off. She couldn't believe how amazing it was to be free of the ground. It was like surfing without the command of the water. Not only that, but she was the only one on Earth to ever feel the sensation. Together, she and Stitch ruled the skies. For a short period of time. There would be plenty of opportunities to fly now, but she had something she needed to do first. Stitch understood her nod, and they landed back down in front of the house.

"Back so soon?" Nani said, checking her watch. "You weren't even gone ten minutes."

"There's something we need to give you." Lilo took hold of one of Nani's hands, while Stitch took the other.

"For me?" Nani laughed as she felt herself get pulled up the stairs, she had no idea what they could possibly have in store for her.

What she didn't expect, was to be given a present that was carefully hidden behind the tree. All it said on it was 'To Nani. With Love. Lilo and Stitch." There was even a small drawing of Lilo and Stitch faces on it, just in case she wasn't sure who it was from.

"You guys didn't have to get me…" She trailed off as she opened the gift. The surfing trophy held a great deal of weight in her hand. However, what really got her was the engraving on the bottom. "Nani Pelekai." She whispered. "The Best Sister in the Galaxy."

Nani looked down at the two before her. Their eyes sparkled with hope that she would like it. Almost feeling herself start to cry, she had no idea what to even say. Or where to start.

"I know you haven't been able to surf since you started looking after me." Lilo began. "And you haven't gotten any new trophies… but you absolutely deserve more and more."

"Yuuga took meega in even when meega naga deserve it." Stitch continued. "Meega naga ever be able to repay yuuga for it. Takka."

"You guys." Nani pulled them into a great hug, feeling herself finally begin to cry. "This is the best gift ever. Next to you two of course. Mele Kalikimaka."

Stitch tilted his head, he had never heard that phrase before. "Mele…?"

"It's what we say instead of 'Merry Christmas.'" Lilo quickly explained.

"Oh." Stitch smiled, happy that Nani enjoyed her gift. "Mele kalichamelon."

"We'll have to work on that one." Lilo giggled.


End file.
